


The Master Hacker: Starship Factory: Near Pocacchio's Lab

by moody_trans_detective



Series: Rogueass Galaxy [39]
Category: Rogue Galaxy
Genre: Creepy Doctors, Gen, Robots, mind programming, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28587195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moody_trans_detective/pseuds/moody_trans_detective
Summary: Dr. Pocacchio loads a new program into Steve.
Series: Rogueass Galaxy [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956043
Kudos: 1





	The Master Hacker: Starship Factory: Near Pocacchio's Lab

Pocacchio could not believe his luck. Right as he was finishing up writing the perfect program, in Steve walks, back into his lab, back into his life. And he was as trusting as always. He followed Pocacchio back into his private lab, shut the door, and let Pocacchio power him down.

“What a fine creation you were, Steve,” said Pocacchio, flipping a panel in the back of Steve’s head open and using the access port. “My finest yet. And now here you are, back just when I need some robot to run my new program.”

He linked the cable from Steve’s head to one of his massive computers and sat in front of the screen, sifting through the data.

“Hmm, let’s see here, yes. It’s still here and running.” He found the place where he’d originally updated Steve to believe Mark had died, still accessible, but it looked like Steve had inexplicably provided some additions of his own., effectively blocking his memory of the false memory Pocacchio had entered into him.

Pocacchio sat with that a moment, turning it over in his head. If he’d thought Steve capable, he’d say Steve had done it because Mark’s loss was too great for him to cope with. But it was far more likely Pocacchio’s patch—done on short notice and imperfect—made him suspicious and he’d tried to keep it from fulfilling its function. Self-preservation. Steve was meant to endure all sorts of attacks.

Mark was gone, anyway. Over the years Pocacchio had come to the conclusion his son was gone, overwritten, but he wouldn’t accept it. He’d had a downward spiral and pulled himself back from it, threw himself into a new obsession. If Steve hadn’t come back now, Pocacchio would have made another. But this was less work. And he needed to preserve his son the way Pocacchio knew Mark would have been. So he’d given himself over to years of painstaking work.

And now, finally, it would come to fruition. Mark had been dead, but Pocacchio would bring him back to life. He’d be able to live and grow and change, but in a different way than before.

“After this, Steve, we’ll be closer than ever,” said Pocacchio. He placed a hand on the robot’s shoulder, like a friendly pat to a child. “I’ll do more than think of you as my son.”

Pocacchio went to the screen again, performed a systems check on Steve. He wanted him to be in perfect working order before he loaded his program, wanted everything updated and backed up. While the computer ran, he took Steve apart and dusted him out, oiled, changed a few gears that were wearing thin. When he was finished, he repaired any difficulties in Steve’s current programming.

Then it was time. Pocacchio pumped the air full of dramatic classical music and began to load the Mark 2.0 program into Steve. As the room reverberated with orchestral flourish, he lovingly polished the robot until he shone.

Things were going to be different. Mark was coming back, coming home. Pocacchio never truly lost him. Not for good. He looked into Steve’s turned-off eyes. When he was powered back up, those would be Mark’s eyes.


End file.
